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November 23, 2009
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Back to: For Researchers >> Study Registration >> Licensing Agreement
 

StudyResponse Licensing Agreement

Researchers who use StudyResponse obtain a license for one-time access to a subset of the StudyResponse panel in exchange for a licensing fee. The licensing fee provides funding for participant incentives, staffing of the StudyResponse project, and university overhead according to the method described below.

Terms and Conditions of the StudyResponse Licensing Agreement
(Subject to change: Last amended May 31, 2006)

By submitting a registration form and/or licensing fee to Syracuse University for use of the StudyResponse Project at Syracuse University (hereafter referred to as StudyResponse), the licensee (hereafter referred to as the "Researcher" agrees to the following terms and conditions:

  1. The researcher must be a faculty or staff member, or a student under the direct supervision of a faculty or staff member of an organization possessing a Federally Approved Assurance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and also possessing a federally registered Institutional Review Board. Faculty and students from research institutions in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom may also be eligible to use StudyResponse when following the conventional research ethics review procedures established in those countries.

  2. The study to which the StudyResponse panelists will respond must have a current approval on file with the researcher's Institutional Review Board, dated within the past calendar year at the time of the final distribution of study recruitment messages. The IRB application on file must specify the use of Internet-based recruitment, must specify protections for participant anonymity, and must explicitly mention the collection of any identifiable information such as IP (Internet Protocol) addresses.

  3. The researcher must serve as or provide a participant point-of-contact (PPOC) for the study, and that PPOC must agree to have his or her email address and telephone number publicized in the recruitment message sent to participants. The PPOC must agree to keep any and all contacts from research participants confidential and to not use any email addresses or other contact information obtained from participants for any purpose other than the conduct of the study conducted under the licensing agreement. The PPOC agrees to forward any communications from participants concerning participation in the StudyResponse project to a StudyResponse staff member. 

  4. The researcher must provide, in electronic form and in advance of the conduct of his or her study, a representation, in PDF format, of the researcher's data collection instrument. These files must be complete such that they visually represent, with high fidelity, the participant's full experience in viewing and interacting with the instrument.

  5. The researcher may specify a variety of optional features and characteristics of the licensed panel, but StudyResponse reserves the right to substitute panelists with characteristics that differ from those requested by the researcher. StudyResponse will make reasonable efforts to distribute recruiting messages at time intervals specified by the researcher, but will not provide refunds of licensing fees or any other considerations in the case of distribution delays.

  6. StudyResponse reserves the right to terminate a study at any time and return the unused portion of the licensing fee (e.g., the portion allocated for reminders or subsequent waves of data collection).

  7. Researchers must disburse their licensing fee to Syracuse University prior to initiation of participant recruitment. StudyResponse uses the licensing fees provided by researchers/licensees according to the following formula: 60% goes to participant incentives and 40% is used by StudyResponse to support administration of studies and maintenance of the panel. In addition, 80% of optional funds over and above the licensing fee can be designated as supplementary participant incentives. The licensee may advise StudyResponse with respect to the number and composition of participant incentives offered for participation in the researcher's study, but StudyResponse reserves the right to determine the final configuration of incentives offered for a study. In general, we will not offer prizes of less than $50 and we will not offer more than 10 prizes per study. Except by special arrangement, prizes are electronic gift certificates to online vendors. Due to U.S. tax laws we cannot award any single participant more than $399 in a given year. With these considerations in mind, researchers/licensees may recommend a variety of participant incentive plans with one or more random drawing prizes in the range of $50-$250. These allocations and amounts are subject to change. StudyResponse staff members will make reasonable efforts to contact all participants designated to receive an incentive, but StudyResponse reserves the right to reallocate unclaimed incentive funds for alternative purposes related to operation of the service.

  8. Upon receipt of the researcher's licensing fee and sampling specifications, StudyResponse will provide an electronic copy of a database (in MS-Access, MS-Excel, or SPSS formats) containing participant ID numbers and demographic information such as age and race of participants. No identifying information will appear in this database and the database is provided for analytical purposes only. The license grants the researcher the non-exclusive right to use the information in the database for academic research purposes for a period of two years following receipt of the licensing fee. StudyResponse retains ownership and copyright of these participant data. StudyResponse also retains ownership and copyright over data pertaining to the performance of research panelists including, but not limited to data concerning timing of responses, response rates, response quality, effects of reminders on responses, effects of differing incentive plans on responses, effects of instrument length on responses, and effects of instrument appearance on responses. Researchers who wish to use such data in public reports of their studies must first obtain permission from the StudyResponse project director.

  9. For studies that require reminders or subsequent waves of data collection, the researcher must provide StudyResponse with a list of participant IDs (in MS-Access, MS-Excel, or SPSS formats) of individuals who have completed the data collection instrument in order to tailor the reminder or subsequent-wave message to the appropriate subgroup. StudyResponse will not send blanket reminders to individuals who may have already completed the instrument. Some attrition is inevitable between waves of recruiting and StudyResponse reserves the right to eliminate any participant from a reminder list.

  10. StudyResponse provides no warranties, whether expressed or implied, with respect to the amount, accuracy, timeliness, or quality of the data, responses, or information received from StudyResponse or StudyResponse panelists. The researcher accepts all risks with respect to contact and interactions with StudyResponse panelists. Neither Syracuse University nor StudyResponse accept liability for outcomes associated with the research conducted with StudyResponse panelists. Syracuse University is a 501c3, non-profit educational institution, incorporated in the State of New York. This license is a business contract made from Syracuse, New York, U.S.A. The terms constituting this contract are set forth in writing on this Web site. Whether or not you choose to print this contract, containing the terms and conditions as described herein, you agree that this contract constitutes a “writing.” This contract shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. Any legal action arising out of this contract shall be litigated and enforced under the laws of the State of New York. In addition, you agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of the State of New York, and that any legal action pursued by you shall be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the State of New York in the city of Syracuse, New York, U.S.A. In the County of Onondaga, USA. All remedies are limited to the United States.

This document Copyright 2003-2006 Syracuse University.
Copyright 2007 Jeffrey Stanton